Primary Elections in the United States

Shigeo Hirano is an associate professor in the Political Science Department at Columbia University, New York. He has published in the leading political science journals. He was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, the Yale University Center for the Study of American Politics, and the Princeton University Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. James M. Snyder, Jr is Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science in the Government Department at Harvard University, Massachusetts, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles, many appearing in the leading political science and economics journals.

• 1. More democracy; 2. One-party dominance, 1880 to 1950; 3. Introduction of primaries and electoral competition, 1892 to 1950; 4. Primaries and party loyalty; 5. Primaries and the qualifications of nominees; 6. Voting behavior and primary elections, 1892 to 1950; 7. Primaries in a changing electoral environment, 1950 to 2016; 8. Primaries and candidate selection in the modern era; 9. Voting behavior and primary elections, 1950 to 2016; 10. Primaries and accountability in the modern era; 11. Primaries and polarization; 12. Conclusion.

'This is a wonderful, definitive study of American party primaries at the state and district level, going back a century. All the usual wrinkles are convincingly addressed - origins, history, competition, turnout, factions, candidate quality, polarization, reform options, and more. For all its messiness, the authors conclude, the system seems to work reasonably well.' David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Yale University, Connecticut